


Time-Out

by littlemisscurious



Series: Tom, Louise and Maggie [18]
Category: Actor RPF, British Actor RPF, Tom Hiddleston - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Family, Fluff, Gen, prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-31
Updated: 2014-01-31
Packaged: 2018-01-10 17:23:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1162450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlemisscurious/pseuds/littlemisscurious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>based on a prompt I received on my writing blog; unbeta'd</p>
            </blockquote>





	Time-Out

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love to hear what you think so feel free to leave a comment at the end :) thanks for reading!

For a moment Tom remained standing in the doorway, watching his daughter pulling clothes out of her little suitcase, her neatly folded dresses, skirts and shirts all landing in a heap on the floor by her feet. “Darling, what exactly are you looking for?,” he grinned and she startled ere turning towards him with guilty eyes. Instead of saying anything, though, she cautiously picked up her clothes again, knowing that her mother wouldn’t be too pleased about the mess she made. “Cat got your tongue?,” her father asked once more, rather amused than angry, and Maggie looked up at him with her big, blue eyes.

“I’mlookingformypinkjumper,” she mumbled quietly and more to herself causing Tom to take a few steps towards her. “Pardon me?” Maggie sighed and placed her clothes on the bed, trying to fold them just they way they were though failing miserably. Shaking his head with a smile, Tom stepped behind her and crouched down, gently taking the clothes from her and folding them quickly before he piled them up neatly beside her suitcase. “Now, my dear, what were you looking for?,” he asked once more, pressing a kiss onto his daughter’s cheek. “I was looking for my pink jumper,” the six year old repeated quietly and with a bowed head. “What’s wrong with the one you are wearing?” With a heavy sigh she leaned against him, burying her face in the crook of his neck before she slung her arms around him. “I just want to wear the other one,” Maggie mumbled against his skin and he smiled. He really wanted to know sometimes what was going on in her little mind but he knew better than to question it. “Well, then let’s have a proper look, shall we?,” he suggested and carefully pulled out the remaining clothes among which was her beloved pink jumper with the black raindrops on it. Her face lit up as she saw the desired piece of clothing but she waited patiently until he gave it to her.

 

While the little girl exchanged her clothes, Tom’s eyes fell onto the gorgeous woman now standing in the doorway, her brown curls cascading over her shoulders while she watched them with a loving smile on her luscious lips, her eyes twinkling in the autumn sun. “You’ll be alright, eh?,” he breathed into Maggie’s ear and pressed a kiss onto her hair ere he stood up and walked towards Louise, his hands easily gliding around her waist. “Hello gorgeous,” she smiled, wiping a stray strand of hair out of his eyes before wrapping her hands around his neck. “Hey,” Tom whispered in response, his thumb stroking over her waist as he gazed into her sparkling eyes.

They both had been busy over the last few months either with touring or shooting or all sorts of press tour appointments for their most recent projects. Although they always tried to reserve enough time for Maggie, they didn’t always found time for themselves and more than once they were already fast asleep when the respective other came home in the middle of the night. Three weeks in the middle of nowhere were supposed to make up for all these ‘lost’ months and Maggie wasn’t the only one excited about their holiday far away from the big, bustling city and instead surrounded by cows and horses and plenty of forests to go exploring.

 

“Do I need to get changed as well now that our daughter is looking so very pretty?” A quiet _ehehehehe_ left his mouth at his wife’s question before he shook his head. “You look utterly gorgeous already, my love,” Tom breathed into her ear, nibbling gently on her earlobe before he pressed a kiss onto that spot right beneath it, sending a shiver down her spine. “I doubt that I do but thank you very much,” Louise smiled in response before a small hand started tugging on Tom’s shirt.

“Oh hello my dear. Are you ready to go and explore?” Quickly, Tom picked his daughter up, now dressed in her favourite pastel pink jumper and equally pastel pink ruffled skirt, as she nodded with a beaming smile showing off her little white denticles and the newly acquired gap in between her front teeth. “Can we bring something to eat so we can have a picnic in the forest?,” the little one enquired, playing with her mother’s silver necklace as she looked at her parents hopefully. Exchanging looks with Louise, Tom nodded shortly after and together they walked downstairs to the kitchen of their tiny rented cottage to prepare the food for their little outing.

***

“Sweetheart, we can’t bring all of these home with us. Choose the prettiest of them and leave the rest behind, okay?” Contemplating her father’s words for a moment, Maggie then dropped her collection of pinecones and only selected a few which she stored in the little rucksack she had brought along. She cast a last, longing glance at those she had to leave behind before she sighed loudly and followed her parents down the path.

The forest, a lively mixture of rich greens and browns, smelled of autumn, and birds were singing loudly in the treetops, lifting her spirits even more. Occasionally, a small rabbit would even peek out from under the bushes but every time Maggie tried to say hello, it ran off and vanished seemingly into thin air. Mumbling to herself, she remained rooted on the spot for a little while, hoping it might show itself again after all but as her parents kept on walking, though slowly, she rather followed them instead of getting left behind in the woods while waiting for a rabbit.

 

“This is heaven on earth,” Louise sighed with a smile, stretching her face towards the beams of sunlight breaking through the thick treetops above them, relishing the warmth they brought along. The constant touring had left its toll on her and though she still loved her music dearly, she felt more and more tired with the years and longed for more private time with her husband and daughter. Granted, Tom wasn’t shooting abroad as often as in earlier years anymore but still they did not have a family life comparable to others. Many a birthday was spent either on tour or on location and, much to their dismay, the press still picked up on every single thing happening to them, whether that was to do with the band, Tom’s acting, or anything happening in their private life, though they tried to keep the latter under wraps as much as possible.

After the loss of Sophie and, two years later, Lou’s brother Matthew, who was killed while on duty, she and the others had often thought about closing the chapter _The Chase_ but in the end neither of them could imagine a life entirely without music which brought them always back on stage again. Meanwhile, Tom found solace in his acting. His anger and despair about his firstborn’s sudden death had fuelled his energetic performance as Coriolanus and many others afterwards which, in turn, gave him the necessary strength to comfort his wife over their painful loss. Despite his deep love for his profession, though, he too craved a time-out every now and then and the three weeks ahead of them were something he had looked forward to for quite some time.

 

Gently, he wrapped his arm around Louise’s shoulders, pulling her close as they strolled along the path, the fir needles soft under their shoes. Shortly, he looked back and seeing Maggie walking quite a few metres behind them, he turned back towards his wife to pull her in for a long and loving kiss. Smiling against his lips, she brought them to a halt, her hands buried in his shirt as she pressed herself against his toned body. A sigh left her mouth as Tom started nibbling on her bottom lip ere soothing the spot with a flick of his tongue, begging for entrance into the cavern of her mouth, which she granted oh too gladly. His large hands cupped her face while they kissed, entirely careless and, for once, undisturbed by either fans or paparazzi.

Well, almost undisturbed at least as Maggie was still more than willing to utter her disapproval of their open display of affection. “Eww,” the little girl mumbled as she walked past her parents, making them interrupt their kiss and chuckle quietly. “Are you thinking what I am thinking?,” Lou whispered against Tom’s lips and he nodded with a mischievous smile ere they followed their daughter, picked her up and showered her with kisses much to the little one’s dismay. “Bah, stop that,” Maggie laughed loudly, trying to shield her face from the ‘attack’ of her parents before they stopped with a laugh and set her back down onto the ground. Tom winked at Lou and she giggled quietly, relishing these carefree moments with her family, ere they intertwined their hands again and kept on walking, Maggie now keeping a safe distance between herself and her over-eager parents.

***

Quietly, Louise tiptoed up the stairs and, after one last glance into her daughter’s bedroom, she continued her way down the corridor towards her own sleeping quarters. The amber glow of the fire bathed the room in a cosy light and for a moment she remained in the doorway, admiring the smooth, muscular back of Tom, his skin shimmering golden in the light, while he was folding his shirt on the armchair by the window. “I still believe I made a pretty good choice when it comes to picking the right husband,” she whispered with a smile, her voice low so as not to wake her sleeping child further down the hallway.

A blush creeping up his cheeks, Tom turned around and scratched his neck. “You think so? Even after all these years of tidying up after me, listening to my endless recitations of Shakespeare at every given occasion, and the countless nights I wasn’t by your side even though I should have been?,” he asked quietly and crossed the room towards her, gently taking the glasses and the champagne out of her hands to place it on the little cupboard next to them. “Especially after all this,” Lou nodded, her fingertips gliding over the soft stubble on his cheek, tracing the freckles on his skin. Tom smiled faintly and for a moment he lowered his gaze. “I love you, Tom. I always have and I always will, no matter what,” his wife added in a whisper, breathing kisses onto his forehead, his temple, the ridge of his nose, until finally meeting his lips.

Their touch was full of longing and accrued desire, almost desperate in design, and by the time their remaining clothes fell onto the dark oakwood floor, the champagne was long forgotten. Their hushed voices and sighs of pleasure echoed from the whitewashed walls ere getting lost in the silence of the autumn night. The amber light of the flickering flames licked on the shadows cast by their intertwined bodies but, untended to, it didn’t stand a chance after all. The flames died down long before Tom and Louise even thought of separation and only the ashes remained as witness to their love. They would be tired in the morning, the dark circles underneath their eyes not less prominent than at the beginning of their vacation but what did it matter in the face of finally coming home again.


End file.
